Speakers Bureau

A true story for your health and safety event

Is your health and safety program looking for a boost or a change of pace? Personal testimony and shared experience is the most powerful and effective way to change attitudes and perceptions about health and safety.

50+ speakers ready to share their personal story

Members of the Speakers Bureau are volunteers from across Canada who have been affected by a life-altering workplace injury, fatality, or are living with an occupational disease. Their presentations are moving and unforgettable. Here’s a sampling of speakers’ personal stories. Contact Threads of Life to find a speaker for your event: speakersbureau@threadsoflife.ca.

“Katie’s presentation reinforced the reality and gravity of workplace fatalities. While we are a very safety conscious organization, she helped remind us that our daily actions can all have an effect on prevention. Katie helped give us a glimpse of what the effect is to lose a loved one, and how that has permanent consequences for the surviving family.”

Wally Power is living with a life-altering injury. While working in a pulp mill as a young man, his arm became entangled in a log peeling machine that had been switched on by another worker while Wally was changing blades. His arm was amputated above the elbow. Wally has had to find new ways to do everything from putting on his socks to changing the transmission in his car. Wally has a great sense of humour, but takes his safety message very seriously.

Renee Guay – Renee’s dad John loved his job as a stationary engineer and worked with boilers, compressors and machinery for 40 years. The wrap around the machinery and pipes contained asbestos and had to be replaced as it deteriorated. Unbeknownst to John and his co-workers, they were repeatedly exposed to airborne asbestos. John was diagnosed with mesothelioma and died only nine months later.

Katie Giesbrecht’s son Bryan was a train conductor. On a snowy afternoon, he and the train engineer were asked to do a routine switch of a diesel tank for the camp generator at a small station on the side of the rail line. Neither he nor the engineer were aware that there was a second derailer that needed to be de-activated. The fuel car that Bryan was riding on derailed and rolled. Bryan was crushed and died instantly.

How the program works

1. The right speaker

Contact us with the date and theme for your event and we will work with you to find a speaker who can provide the ideal story and a powerful message for your audience. We can usually suggest a speaker from your province or region.

2. The arrangements

3. The costs

Threads of Life speakers are volunteers who dedicate their time on the understanding that a donation will be made to Threads of Life. As Threads of Life staff work with you we will discuss a donation amount. You are also asked to cover the expenses to bring the speaker to your event.